Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences

Biotechnology embraces all technologies and techniques that are inspired by, developed from, or used in plants, animals, or microbes. It employs diverse processes such as fermentation (production of useful compounds in liquid cultures of bacteria or fungi), bioengineering of pest-resistant plants, development of assays to detect organic molecules such as pregnancy hormones or anabolic steroids, vaccine production, sequencing of organismal genomes, manipulation of genes and gene products, and the development of sophisticated instrumentation. Biotechnology is used to make synthetic skin to treat burn victims, to detoxify industrial waste, to leach metals at mining sites, to design biologically safe pesticides, to understand the roles played by biological molecules, to produce new pharmaceuticals, and innumerable other fascinating and challenging endeavors.

The newly launched NSU Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences currently focuses on three areas: human reproductive biology and the development of safe, reversible male contraceptives, chemistry of animal venoms, and genetics of human cytomegalovirus. Visit individual faculty web pages to learn more about their research. To explore the Biotech Center’s facilities, equipment, and software, see the Facilities and Instrumentation page.